An LLSeries: 7 Written in the stars
by PandorasHollow
Summary: JavaJunkie Brownies, jumbo cakes, parties and a wedding.
1. Lorelai's brownies

_**Disclaimer: **Don't own **Gilmore Girls** or the song **"Judy is a punk"** by the Ramones_

_**AN1:** After a looooong time I decided to write the final story of my little series. This is the first of three chapters. In my last story "The summer festival" I created a new character -Charles Seever- and I wrote that he had a crush on Lorelai. Now not to complicate things further (after all this is happy story) I decided to give Charles a potential girlfriend - Lisa (the pretty neighbor with a dog)  
There's some stuff about Lisa and Charles but this chapter is mainly about** LL**._

_Please R&R_

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It was a Thursday afternoon when Charles was standing on the porch of the Gilmore-Danes house. He was about to knock on the door when he saw Luke park his truck in their driveway. Charles walked down the porch stairs and met Luke at his car. 

"Hey Charles." – Luke said as he climbed out of the truck.

"Hi. I was just looking for you. At the diner Lane told me that you're probably home."

"I was at Doose's." – Luke told him as he took two bags out of the truck. They walked together to the house and Charles took one of the bags out of Luke's hands to make it easier for Luke to unlock the door.

"Thanks. Why were you looking for me?"

"I wanted to ask you if I could borrow your toolbox."

"Sure. You need help with something?"- Luke asked him.

"Nope. I just promised Lisa that I'd repair her stove but then I realized that I have no tools and neither does she."

"Just let me put these in the kitchen and then I'll give you the toolbox."

"Thank you Luke."

"No problem." – The two men walked into the house and Luke closed the door after them. They made their way to the kitchen. When Luke opened the door they found Lorelai over the sink with her back to them. She was singing to a song that played on the mini cd-player next to her on the counter.

_"…second verse, same as the first Jackie is a punk, Judy is a runt  
they both went down to Berlin, joined the ice capades  
and oh, I don't know why oh, I don't know why  
perhaps they'll die, oh yeah perhaps they'll die, oh yeah"_

"Lorelai." – Luke called her and she turned around to see Luke and Charles standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Hey, hon." – She said cheerfully, her voice deeper and raspier than usually. – "Hey Charles." – Lorelai greeted him too before turning off the cd-player.

"Lorelai, are you feeling better?" – Charles asked her. He knew that Lorelai was sick and staying at home to recover from the cold.

"Barely. This cold is so stubborn."

"Just like the person having it." – Luke said and then took the bag out of Charles' hand and put it on the table. Lorelai gave him a look.

"Are you saying I'm stubborn?"

"You _are_ stubborn."

"Oh, yeah? And you are Mr. Flexibility."

"I can be flexible…" – Luke stopped mid-sentence. – "I think we had this conversation before."

"Yeah, just gender-flipped. Anyway, what are you doing home?"

"What are you doing up? I thought we agreed…" – Luke stopped talking and sniffed a few times. – "What's this smell?"

"Well, it's not me. I'm freshly showered." – Lorelai replied but she knew that she couldn't do or say anything to avoid the next question.

"Are you baking brownies?" – Luke asked unbelievably before going to the oven and opening it. When his assumption was confirmed he turned to her. – "What on earth inspired you to make brownies?"

"I was bored. I started looking through the shelves and found this brownies mix and the result is in the oven. Before you ask why there's a brownies mix in our house, I think it was Rory who bought it." – Lorelai explained and Luke just looked at her with raised eyebrows. Lorelai pouted at him.

"Did I already say that I was bored. You were at work, Rory is at Yale, Sookie is at work. I'm all alone in this house that I haven't left in days and all I'm…" – Before she could end her sentence she sneezed. Three times. Luke looked at her sympathetically and handed her a piece of a paper towel.

"I know you'd love to be somewhere else but you're ill." – He said in a soothing voice.

"I'm feeling better. That was just a…" – Then she sneezed again and Luke gave her the _'who-are-you-kidding-look'. _– "I didn't sneeze before." – Lorelai said. –"Were you in contact with cats? Maybe there's cat hair on you and I'm reacting allergic to it."

"You are not allergic to cats." – Luke told her and rolled his eyes. – "You're having a cold. Come here." – He said and she stepped closer to him. Luke put a hand on her forehead. – "You're not as hot as last night."

"You know how to talk to a girl." – Lorelai deadpanned. – "I don't want to be sick." – She whined.

"I know."

"I hate it. I mean it's not even winter. It's September for God's sake. It's still warm outside and I'm ill. Why?"

"You really want me to give you an answer to that?" – Luke asked her.

"No. Your lecture from the other day was enough. _Driving with open windows when your hair is wet is bad_." – Lorelai said in a deeper voice, trying to mimic Luke but he ignored her.

"Did you take your medicine?" – She didn't answer but suddenly found her _Tigger_-slippers very interesting. – "Lorelai?" – This time she mumbled something. – "What was that?"

"I said _no_" – She said louder and looked up at him.

"Why not?"

"Because the doc said I should eat something before taking the medicine but I didn't have anything to eat since this morning." – Luke shook his head in disbelief.

"Why? I made you pancakes and put them in the fridge. All you had to do was warm the food up and eat it."

"I know and that's why I came downstairs but before I came here I went into the living room to get a movie. On the table I saw a Twinkie and I ate it. It tasted kinda stale and I felt a bit sick to my stomach. After the Twinkie I couldn't eat anything else." – Luke just stared at her, not saying a word. She stared back at him. – "Please don't leave me." – She said and he just shook his head again.

"Alright. I'll make you a fresh meal. I just need to give Charles…oh, my God. Charles." – Luke turned to Charles who was leaning against the door frame, bemusedly watching the banter between the couple. – "I'm so sorry." – Luke apologized.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. Lorelai distracted me with her brownies…" – Luke heard her giggle and turned quickly to her. – "Don't say dirty."

"You make it too easy for me babe." – She said.

"Lorelai. Bed. Now." – he said sternly.

"But Luke we have a guest." – Lorelai teased him.

"Oh, jeez. Would you just go upstairs and rest."

"I don't want to. I'm bored and I've already watched and read everything that I could find in this house."

"First of all that's not possible. We have so many movies and books that we could open a bookstore and a video store. Secondly, I'll stay with you. I just need to give Charles the toolbox and call Lane and tell her that I won't be in today." – Luke said.

"Really?" – Lorelai immediately cheered up.

"Of course. Didn't I stay with you for the past three days?"

"Yes, you did." – She said and smiled lovingly at him.

"Go and find a movie for us to watch. Soon I'll be upstairs with some food."

"I love you." – Lorelai said and hugged him.

"I'll be right back."

"Okay." – Lorelai said and they all walked out of the kitchen. Lorelai started to ascend the stairs. – "Me and my brownies will be waiting for you." – She said and laughed when she heard Luke mutter something. Charles laughed along with her. – "Bye, Charles." – She called over her shoulder.

"Bye Lorelai. Get well soon." – He said.

"Thanks." – She told him before she disappeared upstairs.

Luke led Charles outside to the garage where he kept all of his tools. He grabbed the toolbox and handed it to Charles.

"You know what you're doing with the stove?" - Luke asked him.

"Yes, I learned a lot from my dad." – Luke nodded.

"Alright but if you come across some problem and can't dissolve it, give me a call."

"I'll be fine."

"Okay. Greet Lisa from me."

"I will. See you Luke" – Charles said and Luke and he parted. Luke went back into the house to call the diner and Charles made his way to Lisa's.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Charles knocked on Lisa's door and almost immediately she opened it.

"Your very own handyman is here."

"Hi. Come in." – She smiled at him and he walked in but not before noticing how good she looked in a pair of jeans and a green shirt. As soon as they entered the living room, Starbuck ran to them and sprung at Charles, almost knocking him down.

"Starbuck, old friend." – Charles said to the dog and petted the dog's head.

"Starbuck, down." – Lisa said, taking the dog by his collar and pulling him away from Charles.

"That's okay. He hasn't seen me in a while." – Charles told Lisa and watched Starbuck make circles around them. For the past two months it became a habit for Charles to take care of Starbuck when Lisa worked late or when she visited her parents in Maine.

"I think it's better if I get him outside or he'd make it impossible for you to work." – Lisa said and took Starbuck once again by the collar and led him outside to the backyard. Soon she was back sans dog. – "I really appreciate you doing this for me." – She said.

"It's no problem."

"Can I get you something to drink?"

"I'll have whatever you have."

"Beer is it then." – Lisa said and he followed her to the kitchen where he put down the toolbox.

"Thanks." – He said when she handed him a cold beer. – "So, what's wrong with the stove?" – Charles asked and put away the beer after taking a sip.

"I really have no idea. I tried to bake something yesterday but the oven just didn't get warm. At first I thought the power went out again but it became quickly clear that that wasn't the problem." – Lisa replied and Charles just nodded, taking some tools out of the toolbox. While Charles worked, Lisa chatted with him. She sat down on a chair and caught herself checking out his butt which made her blush immensely. She was glad that he was with his head in the oven and didn't witness any of it. To prevent herself from staring at his butt again, she changed chairs. After a few minutes of small talk Lisa started to tell him about the big Stars Hollow blackout of 2001.

"…Taylor freaked out and he was on the verge of declaring a state of emergency. Kirk was convinced that the blackout was the catastrophe that never happened when the new millennium began. All restaurants were closed expect for Luke's, Pete's Pizza Place and the Independence Inn restaurant 'cause they all have gas stoves. All of those places were packed with hungry people all day long. It was around noon and I was at Luke's when Lorelai stormed in, seeking out Luke immediately. She was talking so fast that one felt dizzy listening to her. I just heard words like _'no power'_, _'coffee maker'_ and _'no coffee in blood'_. She begged him to make her coffee and he asked how he's supposed to do that 'cause there was no power at the diner either. Lorelai said that he's the _Coffee God_ and that he could do wonders. He said no, he was too busy, the diner was full of demanding guests but she didn't listen. After five minutes of following him around the diner she went behind the counter grabbed an apron, tied it around herself and started to take people's orders. Luke asked her what she was doing and she told him that she was helping him in exchange for just one cup of coffee. He asked her how he was supposed to give her coffee, he couldn't even drive to the next town and buy her a cup 'cause the next town was without power too. In a very confident voice Lorelai told him that he'd come up with something and he really did." – Lisa said and laughed at the memory.

"Really? How?" – He asked curiously and pulled his head out of the oven to look at Lisa.

"Well, in the easiest way possible. He made coffee in the same manner people did before there were coffee makers and filters. Just instant coffee and boiled water."

"Ah, the solution so obvious but still not easy to see." – Charles said and went back to work.

"It's the machine age. Anyway, you should have seen her cheer when he presented her with a cup of coffee. Boy, it was so obvious that there was more between them then just friendship. I still don't get it why it took them so long to realize it." – Again Charles took his head out of the oven to look at Lisa, a confused expression on his face.

"They were not together back then?" – He asked

"Don't tell me you don't know the tale of Luke and Lorelai?"

"Can't say that I do. When I first met them I thought Rory was their child." – Lisa just shook her head.

"I thought you were friends with Luke."

"I am but he's not a chatty person and besides men don't talk about that stuff." – Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Right. If you want I can tell you the story or you could ask Patty. I'm sure she'd love to tell it to you." – Lisa said and laughed when Charles made a face.

"Five minutes with that woman are not healthy for a man."

"Okay, then I will tell you the story. Lorelai had Rory when she was sixteen. She was not happy at her home and when Rory was about one year old she ran away. She came to Stars Hollow and found a job at the Independence Inn. She worked first as a maid and worked her way up to the manager. The inn burned down a few years ago and later she and Sookie bought a very shabby Dragonfly Inn and restored it into that beautiful inn that it is today.

I don't know when Luke and Lorelai met. I guess it was like a decade ago but they got together not even two years ago."

"Really? I thought they were together for years."

"Nope. They were just friends all those years but everyone knew that there was more except the two of them. Or maybe they knew it too just denied it, I really don't know. Last year, it was the week before the summer festival, when they kinda shocked everyone. One morning Lorelai came down the stairs just clad in a flannel shirt. The people stared at her, she smiled and ran upstairs again."

"Where did she come in just a flannel?" – Charles asked confused.

"In the diner. Luke used to live in an apartment above the diner and she probably didn't know that there were people in the diner so she walked down and found herself in a really embarrassing situation. Some time later I heard that the relationship had started weeks before that incident."

"And they kept it secret for weeks? In this town?"

"Not really. That summer Luke was away for weeks helping Liz and TJ after they had an accident. Once it was out that they were together there was a town meeting just for that purpose."

"This town is so crazy that I'm not even hesitating to believe you."

"Taylor was afraid that in case of a break up that the town would be divided and months later they really broke up."

"Seriously?"

"Only telling the truth here. In the end it was Taylor who divided the town. He made the people choose between Luke's diner and Lorelai's inn. People wore blue or pink ribbons. I have no idea why they broke up but a few weeks later they were back together. Which was welcomed by the townies 'cause Luke was in a constant grumpy mood and Lorelai was looking sad every morning I saw her at Weston's. After the reconciliation they moved in together then got engaged and that's it. I let out a few things like Luke's ex-girlfriend coming back, Lorelai being engaged to someone else, Luke's failed marriage, Rory's broken wrist and Jess…." – Lisa told him one or two other stories about Luke and Lorelai but their topics soon changed and Lisa told him more funny stories about the townies, her childhood and her life before she moved to Stars Hollow.  
Charles in return told her some stories from his past. Even after Charles successfully repaired the oven they sat at the kitchen table, talked, drank beer and laughed. It was the longest talk they ever had. Sitting across each other with beer bottles on the table between them, Charles watched her talk animatedly, a beautiful smile always present on her lips. He was falling for his beautiful neighbor and he knew it. He has known it for days he just didn't know what to do with his newfound feelings for Lisa. The last time he was in this situation was so many years ago, when he had fallen in love with his ex-wife. That was a long time ago. He did feel attracted to Lorelai when he had first met her. That had confused him more than anything. One day he felt attracted to her and another day the attraction was gone, making Charles wonder if there was attraction in the first place. He didn't dwell on that thought for long though. The school started and he was in full 'principal mode'. The more he settled into his new life the less he missed his old one. He did miss his parents and friends but Philadelphia wasn't that far away and he could visit them whenever he wanted. Besides he wasn't completely alone anymore. He became friends with Luke, Jackson, Mike - a High School teacher - and there was Lisa, who was sitting across of him, telling him a story about Kirk in a hot-dog costume. Charles glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost ten o'clock. He couldn't believe that he has spent almost four hours at Lisa's.  
When Lisa noticed him looking at the watch she looked at her own and was equally surprised how late it was.

"Wow, I didn't notice how late it is." – She said.

"Time flies when you're having fun and I did have fun." – Charles said and smiled at her.

"I had fun too."

"I'm sorry but I have to go now. Tomorrow will be long day for me at work. Parent-teacher conference and other stuff." – He said as he stood up.

"I'm sorry I kept you up so long."

"No need to apologize. I really had a great time." – Charles said and she saw that he was sincere. He picked up Luke's toolbox and walked to the front door with Lisa following him.

"I really don't know how to thank you for your handyman services." – Lisa said when they reached the door. – "How about dinner? I'll cook something on my newly repaired stove." – She asked him and hoped he'd say yes.

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to but only if you want too. I don't want to talk you into something you don't want." – Lisa said quickly, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Then I'll come gladly." – Charles said and she smiled at him, feeling relieved.

"Good. How does Friday sound? I have the whole weekend off."

"Friday sounds great." – Charles answered, opened the door and walked out.

"I'll see you Friday and probably before too."

"Probably. Good night Lisa."

"Good night Charles." – He gave her one last smile before walking down the porch stairs. She watched him walk across the street to his house before she closed and locked her door.

* * *

_**AN2:** I hope you liked the chapter. Next chapter is about the bachelor/ette parties and the third and last chapter is about the wedding._

**I'm looking for a BETA. Anyone interested? If anyone is interested or you know someone who'd like to beta JJ stories please contact me via e-mail (the address is in my profile). English is not my first language and I'd really appreciate the help with the grammar. That's all I need the help with - grammar. It's a big pain in my a--**

**It'd be great if I could post the next chapter after it was 'betaed'.**

_I'm also working on another **JJ** story that's a bit AU. I'm going through the first 3 seasons of the show and rewriting it a bit, making Lorelai the one who's pining for Luke and Luke being the one who's oblivious to everything._

_Thanks for reading  
-Pandora-_


	2. The Greek God

_**AN:** 'phew' I finally finished this chapter. Sorry that it took me sooo long. I'd love to use the excuse that I was too busy with school and private life and what not. In a way I really was but the main reasons for the lack of updates are laziness and writer's block. yep, so sorry about that.  
I have the story almost finished and I should post the last chapter in a few days. _

I want to thank everyone who reviewed on the first chapter and also all those who gave me feedback on my other stories these past two, three months. **Thanks a lot.**

_Here's a warning for you, a **FLUFF-WARNING. **Lots of mushiness between Luke and Lorelai, especially in the first part of the chapter. _

Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter.

_

* * *

_Lorelai sat at the counter drinking a cup of peppermint tea. The last week of September was unusually hot and Lorelai prayed that it would stay warm over the weekend. She really didn't need it to rain on her wedding day. Since she recovered from the cold she found herself drinking more tea than her essence of life, coffee. Luke was quietly wiping the counter, enjoying the afternoon lull before the dinner rush. Lorelai stared at him, wondering what he was thinking about. She put a hand on his and stopped his movements, making him look up at her. 

"Hey." – She smiled warmly. – "You seem lost in thought. What are you thinking about?" – Luke leaned in closer to her, resting his elbows on the counter.

"I was thinking about this one special girl." – He said in a husky voice and she knew that he was flirting with her. He only talked in that husky and sexy voice when he was flirting. Lorelai perked up a bit, because it was rare that he flirted with her in public. Putting her almost empty cup aside, she leaned in closer to him too.

"What girl?" – She asked.

"A really gorgeous one. She'll be Mrs. Danes in three days."

"Lucky girl." – Lorelai said with a sexy smirk on her lips and Luke moved closer to her. Before pressing his lips to hers for a chaste kiss he whispered: _"I'm the lucky one_."

After they pulled apart Lorelai told him between giggles – "you're Lucky Luke." – Luke didn't really know how to respond to that so he just kissed her again. The bell over the door announced new customers and Luke took the notepad and walked over to take their orders.  
When he came back he refilled Lorelai's cup.

"I've been wanting to ask you something." – She said.

"Okay, what's up?"

"Well the wedding is in three days and I realized that we haven't talked about our bachelor parties. We girls are going to some club in Hartford. What have you planned for yours?"

"Nothing."

"What? Why? You have to have a party. It's a rule."

"Who says that?"

"Me of course." – Lorelai said matter of factly.

"I don't like those parties. The last one I went to ended in a fist fight." – he said, referring to TJ's party.

"That shouldn't stop you. You don't have to go to a bar or strip club. Ooh, ooh…" – Lorelai said excitedly when an idea crossed her mind. – "…You can have a stripper come her and…"

"No." – Luke interrupted her but it was in vain.

"…she could jump out of a cake."

"Lorelai." – He said in a warning voice..

"Do you think there a different kinds of those fake cakes? Like a carrot cake or tofu cake? You know, something healthful for diabetics and healthy food eaters. Imagine a woman jumping out of a jumbo plastic carrot cake. How does it sound?" – Lorelai asked and he just shook his head at her.How she comes up with crazy ideas like '_jumbo plastic carrot cake'_ he'll never know.

"No party, no stripper, no jumbo cake."

"Come on! It's your last chance to look at other women. After Saturday you'll only be allowed to focus your eyes on me." – Lorelai told him.

"I thought it was clear that my eyes have been focused _only_ on you for years." – Luke whispered flirtatiously.

"How do you do it?" – She asked him and he was lost for a second, not knowing what she was talking about.

"How do I do what?" – Luke asked.

"Just when I think I can't love you more, you do or say something that makes me fall in love with you all over again." – Lorelai said, her voice full of adoration for him. Luke was surprised by this admission and he looked down at her hand that was resting on top of his. From time to time her thumb would graze his hand and every time she did it, it would send shivers down his spine. That sensation was there nine years ago when their fingers had touched for the briefest of moments as she had handed him the horoscope and it was still there.

"I could ask you the same thing." – He finally said. Lorelai smiled at him even brighter than before.

"And the circle never ends." – She said, letting him know that he has again said something that made her love him more.

"Thank God." – Was his reply before he pecked her on the lips.

"Okay, now enough of this mushiness or I might start to believe we're in the twilight zone." – Lorelai said. – "Don't think that I've forgotten our other talk. Again I ask, what kind of bachelor party do you want?" – Luke groaned frustrated.

"Lorelai…"

"Listen Mister. If you continue to be so stubborn, I'm gonna go over to that table…" – She pointed to a table that was occupied by Miss Patty. – "…and tell her that you are a total sap. I'm gonna tell her all the little romantic things you've done for me and before the day ends the whole town will know it. The way I know Patty she'll exaggerate quite a bit. Your rep will be destroyed. Everyone will know that you're a softie, no one is gonna believe your grumpy exterior anymore. No one is gonna be afraid of you anymore. Just imagine Kirk coming in here everyday, staying the whole day, calling you buddy and giving you hugs on every holiday. You'll go daily through hell and just because you refused to have a bachelor party." – When Lorelai ended her little speech Luke was just looking at her with raised eyebrows.

"Cold turkey." – Was all he said.

"What? Cold turkey?" – Lorelai asked, not understanding what he meant by that.

"That's how you are going to feel when I cut you off coffee."

"You wouldn't dare!" – Lorelai gasped.

"Oh, I would."

"My threat was funny, yours horrid." – Lorelai said and pouted at him.

"Listen, you know I don't like these things. You go and have a great party. I'll just have some beers and watch tv and on the next day you'll see me under the chuppah."

"I wish you'd have a bachelor party."

"What have you planned for your bachelorette party?" – Luke asked, hoping it would distract her from him.

"Nothing in particular. Ladies night out. Rory and Lane know this one club in Hartford and we decided to go there. Dance, drink and just have fun."

"That sounds good. You go and enjoy yourself."

"I think I shouldn't have a party either."

"Lorelai…"

"No, listen. It's a pointless party. It's not like I will never again have the chance to hang out with the girls. Besides it was probably a man who came up with this whole bachelor party thing just to have an excuse to have naked girls around him."

"But you're looking forward to going out."

"The only thing I'm looking forward is to marry you. I have an idea. Let us have a party of our own. Just you and I. We'll stay at home, have dinner and _entertain_ ourselves."

"What about the other day when you had this freak out about tradition and made me promise that I won't sleep at home the night before the wedding."

"First of all, it wasn't a freak out. Secondly, I thought we spend the evening with each other and then you leave before midnight. Just like Cinderella."

"But you…" – Luke tried to protest again but she cut him off in the middle of the sentence.

"Say yes, damn it!" – Luke raised his eyebrows at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Okay." – He gave in and Lorelai smiled at him.

"Good. Now that we have cleared this up, can I have a cup of coffee. I'm getting tired of tea." – Lorelai said and pushed the cup of tea towards Luke.

"I was wondering when your old habits would kick in again." – Luke said and took the coffee pot to pour her coffee.

"Not soon enough. I've recovered from the cold days ago and this is the first time I really craved coffee." – Lorelai told him and took a large gulp. Luke shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't drink it that fast. You're lucky that the coffee wasn't that hot or else you could have burned your tongue."

"It would have been worth it." – Lorelai said and took another sip.

"You do know that your're crazy?"

"Yep. Now give me another cup but make it to go." – Luke did as asked and handed her the cup of coffee.

"Kiss." – Lorelai said and they both leaned over the counter and met in the middle for a quick peck on the lips. – _"Bye doll"_ were Lorelai's last words before she left the diner in a hurry to get to the inn in time for a staff meeting.  
Luke watched her walk away and waited to go to the storage room until he saw her drive off.

Once in the storage room, he pulled out his cell phone and called a familiar number.  
A few rings later he heard a cheerful _"hello"_ on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Rory."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

It was Friday afternoon, the day before Luke's and Lorelai's wedding.  
Lorelai was at home in their bedroom, standing in front of a full length mirror, admiring her wedding dress. She came home early from work to finish packing for their honeymoon but that was forgotten once she had seen her wedding dress in the back of her closet. There were two good reasons why she shouldn't put the dress one. Number one was, Luke could come home earlier and see her in it. Reason number two was that that kind of behavior always reminded Lorelai of Emily and the story of her mother's own wedding. Lorelai vehemently refused to have anything in common with her mother.

She tried to forget the dress and fought the desire to put it on but in the end Lorelai had lost the battle. Looking down at her dress again, she knew that in this case she was already behaving very much like Emily.  
Like Emily, Lorelai couldn't resist but put the dress on and get lost in daydreams about her and her future husband. The only comfort was that there were two differences in her and her mother's behavior.  
Lorelai didn't sneak around because she was afraid her mother would catch her with the dress on and Lorelai didn't try her dress on every night of the week before the wedding. In truth Lorelai has put on her dress three or four times a week ever since she brought it home. That was almost two months ago. Thankfully Luke never walked in on her but Rory did. Lorelai had explained to her daughter that she had just tried the dress on to see if she had maybe gained some weight. That had worked the first time Rory came home to find her mom in the dress but it didn't work the other four times. Rory, however had a blast teasing Lorelai about it. She especially loved the look on her mom's face whenever she'd call her Emily.

Lorelai sat down on her side of the bed and took off her shoes and veil. On her nightstand, next to the alarm clock Lorelai caught sight of her notebook and she opened it. Inside she found a very long list of things she had to do before the wedding. All things, except for packing for the honeymoon, were crossed out. The planning of the wedding wasn't as stressful as Lorelai thought it would be. Except for two _Sookie-freak-outs_ and the few calls from Emily to annoy her with ideas or to criticize some of Lorelai's decisions, everything ran smoothly.  
Everything was so perfect that sometimes Lorelai thought that something bad was bound to happen. She still can remember the night when she told Luke about it.

_It was a warm August night as Luke and Lorelai lay in their bed, holding each other and enjoying the fresh breeze that would come in through the open windows. Lorelai's head was resting on his abdomen and Luke was lazily playing with her hair._

"_Luke?" – She whispered._

"_Yeah?" _

"_Are you afraid?"_

"_Afraid of what?" – He asked her, curious about her question._

"_The wedding." – Lorelai said. Luke's only response was the intake of a deep breath that took too long to be exhaled. Her question caused panic to rise inside of him but before he could answer her, Lorelai sat up and started to rant. _

"_Today I was in my office when I realized that I was really enjoying planning the wedding and that's a first. I always thought that I'd be close to a breakdown but nothing. Isn't that crazy? Then I thought what if this is the calm before the storm? What if now everything is perfect but the wedding turns into a catastrophe? I don't want our wedding to be a catastrophe. What if my mother does something evil again or what if it rains. Oh my God, what if Kirk falls into our cake. What if…?" – With every 'what if' Lorelai's voice raised and took on a more panicky tone. Luke had to stop her._

"_Lorelai calm down." – He said and sat up in bed too. Lorelai looked at him and tried to control her mini freak out. – "Is this what you are worrying about?" – Luke asked her and she nodded. To her surprise he laughed._

"_This is not funny Luke."_

"_Oh, it is. When you asked me if I was afraid because of the wedding……Lorelai,…you……I thought…" – he couldn't bring out the words. He thought she had changed her mind about them. Slowly Lorelai understood what he was trying to tell her and her face softened._

"_Oh, Luke…no. Of course I wasn't thinking that. No way. I phrased the question wrong. I'm such an idiot…"_

"_No, you are not. It was just a wrong choice of words." – Luke said and smiled at her._

"_Yeah, it was. Come here." – Lorelai said, took his face in her hands and kissed him. Luke rested his back against the headboard, pulled Lorelai with him until she was sitting in his lap, straddling him with her legs. Once they were out of breath they broke off the kiss and Lorelai put her head on his shoulder. Luke hugged her to him and planted a kiss on her temple. _

"_You shouldn't worry too much. Everything is going to be fine."_

"_How do you know?" – Came her muffled question._

"_I just know. Whatever happens at our wedding it won't change a thing. You and I are getting married and nothing is going to stop us.  
First of all, the only thing your mother is going to do will be to enjoy the party. I mean, Emily will never stop wondering why you want to be my wife but…"_

"_Luke…" – Lorelai raised her head and looked at him._

"…_but…" – Luke repeated not letting her interrupt him. – "…she's not stupid. She knows that if she tried something again, you'd never forgive her and she couldn't live with that. I actually think that she's looking forward to our wedding."_

"_Really?" – Lorelai asked him with raised eyebrows._

"_Sure. Once we're married she can proudly tell all her friends that her daughter is no longer a spinster." – Luke said and tried to keep a straight face. Lorelai gasped in fake shock and punched his shoulder rather hard. Luke started to laugh while he rubbed the spot on his shoulder she hit._

"_Sorry. Do you prefer 'couch potato girl'?"_

_"Luke Danes! Are you mocking me? I'm deeply hurt." – Lorelai pouted at him and tried to get up but he stopped her. He pulled her back to him and placed a lingering kiss on her lips.  
When the kiss ended she rested her forehead on his._

_"Listen…" – Luke said as he rubbed her arms up and down. – "…If it rains than we'll have our wedding inside the inn and we just have to keep Kirk away from our cake. If he still manages to land with his face in it, then we will have some memorable pictures to show our grandchildren." – Lorelai smiled warmly and kissed him on the cheek._

"_Yeah, you're right."_

"_Of course I am."_

"_So cocky tonight, aren't we?" – She said and leaned in to place another kiss on his lips. He returned the kiss eagerly and soon she was lying on her back with Luke on top of her and his hands were wandering all over her body._

The slamming of the front door pulled Lorelai out of the pleasant memory. Slightly panicked, she looked over at a clock. _'It can't be him.'_ – She thought. She heard steps coming upstairs and she ran over to the door and closed it. With her face pressed against the door, she said: "You said you'd be here at seven. You're too early, I still have eight minutes."

"It's me, mom."

"Rory?"

"Who else calls you '_mom'_? Can I come in?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because." – Rory rolled her eyes at her mom's answer but smiled when realization hit her. "Mom? Are you wearing your wedding dress again?"

"No." – Came Lorelai's hesitant answer. Rory just smiled broader.

"Yes, you are. Now that I know it you can open the door." – A few seconds later Lorelai opened the door slowly, looking sheepishly at her daughter.

"Hi."

"Hi Monica." – Rory said bemused.

"If I'm Monica then you have to be Phoebe. Where's your dress?" – Lorelai said.

"You really want me to be Phoebe? In that episode she was pregnant."

"Then forget it. What are you doing here?"

"I'm glad to see you too, mother." – Rory said and Lorelai rolled her eyes.

"I just meant that you wanted to stay at Lane's tonight. Help me with the dress." – Lorelai said and turned her back to Rory. Rory helped her out of the dress and Lorelai put on a pair of jeans and a shirt.

"I just came to take some stuff." – Lorelai was about to ask her another question but was distracted by a thud.

"What was that?" – Lorelai asked and Rory shrugged.

"I don't know. I think it came from downstairs. Should we go look?"

"What if it's some psychopath? Did you close the front door?"

"First of all, yes, I did close the door. Secondly, this is Stars Hollow. No psychopath. Of course Luke wouldn't agree with that statement but you know what I mean. Let's just see what it was." – Rory said and walked out of the bedroom with Lorelai following her.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Meanwhile at the diner Luke was wiping the tables clean. He was lost in thought about Lorelai, that he slightly jumped at the knock on the diner's door. He looked up and saw his nephew standing outside. Luke walked over and unlocked the door.

"Jess."

"Uncle Luke." – Jess said and the two men smiled slightly at each other before Luke stepped aside to let Jess walk in.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm your best man, remember?"

"I know that. I just didn't expect you before tomorrow. The wedding in in the afternoon and I thought you'd come last minute."

"That was my original plan but a certain person called and threated me." – Jess told him and dropped his duffel bag on the floor before he took a seat at the counter.

"You usually don't care about threats." – Luke said and went behind the counter.

"Usually not but this certain person called me by my full name." – Luke laughed and shook his head at Jess.

"The powers of a mother. Anyway, why did she tell you to come?"

"Because she didn't want you to be alone tonight. She said some other stuff but I didn't listen. What I gathered was that Lorelai is having a party and you are alone and that I better move my ass."

"I see. How did Liz know that I wasn't having a bachelor party?"

"Apparently because you didn't invite TJ."

"Well that's not an argument."

"That's what I told her but Liz is Liz. Besides Rory told her." – Jess said.

"Rory?" – Luke asked surprised.

"Yeah, but why, how or when I don't know. Maybe Liz mentioned it but like I said, I didn't listen." – Jess explained nonchalantly. Luke regarded his nephew closely. He mentally slapped himself when the thought crossed his mind that Jess was maybe uncomfortable being so close to Rory. Why he hadn't thought about that sooner, Luke didn't know. Now that he thought more about it he remembered the phone call with Jess when he had told him about the wedding. Jess had seemed a bit hesitant about the best man thing but Luke hadn't understood his reason back then.

"I'm sorry." – Luke said.

"For what?"

"Rory. I didn't think. I'd understand if you want to change your mind. You don't have to be my best man if you're still thinking about her."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm okay." – Jess said but Luke looked unconvinced. – "Seriously, everything is fine. Things have changed, we are grown-ups now. I'll see her tomorrow, right?"

"Unless you lose your eyesight." – Luke said and Jess just gave him an annoyed look.

"So, I'll see her but I don't have to talk with her or anything. I moved on and she probably moved on too. I promise I won't make a scene or something."

"You better not or Lorelai is going to kill you." – Luke said and Jess just nodded, thinking it was time for a subject change.

"So, you finally got yourself a Gilmore girl. I can't believe you're marrying. I always thought you're going to stay a bachelor for life."

"Hey, I was married before."

"That didn't count." – Jess told him and Luke rolled his eyes.

"Are you hungry?" – Luke asked him, changing the topic.

"Nope."

"Okay, I have to finish cleaning up." – Luke said and Jess got up to help him. A few silent minutes later Jess reluctantly started to talk.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to ask you if……if it is okay if I bring someone to the wedding?" – Jess asked, not looking at Luke.

"Uhmmm…."

"I just thought, since you're going to be very busy tomorrow and I'll be avoiding Liz and TJ just like the rest of the guests are going to avoid me,….I thought that maybe I could bring a friend with me." – Jess said, still not looking at Luke.

Luke was surprised to hear him ask that and soon a smirk appeared on his lips.

"A friend? Someone special? Maybe a lady friend?"

"Ladyfriend? Who the hell says 'lady friend' anymore?"

"Don't change the subject. So, you want to bring a friend."

"That's what I said."

"Does that friend have a name."

"Yeah."

"Jess."

"What?"

"Are you going to tell me the name?"

"Not if you continue to play this game."

"I'm not playing a game. I just want to know who you're bringing to the wedding. I'd hate to see some fat guy with the name Buck who has tattoos and drives a Harley come to our wedding. You know that Lorelai would insist to drive on the Harley to our honeymoon." – Jess rolled his eyes very much in the same manner Luke always does.

"Firstly, didn't you tell me that you're spending your honeymoon on Hawaii? You see, you don't _drive_ to Hawaii. Secondly, it's not a guy. It's a fat lady with tattoos. Her friends call her Large Marge and she drives a '74 Norton Commando." – Jess deadpanned.

"Jess." – Luke looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Fine. Her name is Chloe and yes, we are together. Happy now?"

"Yes, if you wouldn't have confessed it I wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight." – Luke said sarcastically. – "To answer your question. Yes, you can bring Chloe to the wedding." – Luke said and Jess just nodded at him, feeling relieved that Luke didn't question him further.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

While Luke and Jess finished cleaning up the diner, Lorelai and Rory walked downstairs into the living room to find the source of the thud they've heard upstairs.

"Surprise!" – The room erupted with loud voices as everyone jumped out from their hidden places. Lorelai's hand flew to her mouth in surprise and she looked around her living room at the smiling faces. In the crowd Lorelai spotted Sookie, Babette, Mia – who came to town just for the wedding, Patty, Liz, Paris, Lane, Gypsy, her mother.

"Oh, my God. Are you trying to give me a heart attack? You know I can't die without being married." – Lorelai joked and they all laughed.

"Don't worry sugar. Now that we're finally at our destination, we're not going to allow something to happen." – Babette said.

"Your destination? Is that so?" – Lorelai asked with an raised eyebrow.

"Of course. So many years we waited, hoped, wished and prayed for your and Luke's wedding." – Patty said and everyone, except for Emily, laughed at her dramatization. Emily hasn't witnessed the '_dance'_ Luke and Lorelai had shared for years. She didn't know how long it took them or what it took them to be at this point in their lives.

"Well, I'm glad that we entertained you for so long." – Lorelai said. – "I don't want anyone to feel unloved, you all know how much I love you, but what are you doing here?"

"It's your bachelorette party, mom." – Rory said, who was standing behind Lorelai. Lorelai turned to her daughter.

"But honey, I told you that Luke and I decided to have a quiet evening by ourselves. The party was called off."

"I know that. But even before you phoned me to call off the party, Luke called. He told me that you're going to call it off and that I should play along. That way you could still have your party. He felt guilty that you didn't want a party because of him." – Lorelai was touched at Luke's gesture_. 'God, do I love him'_ – she thought.

"That man is a God." – Patty chimmed in. – "Probably a Greek God with that muscular chest and those arms and…"

"Patty!" – Lorelai gasped playfully at Patty. – "No imaging my fiance in a toga."

"Oh, believe me honey I wasn't." – Patty winked slyly at Lorelai and then laughed that famous _Patty-laugh._

"Oh, please. I don't want to hear you talk like that about my stepfather." – Rory said, covering her ears. Lorelai patted Rory's back lovingly while her guests chuckled and laughed.

"Okay, ladies. You just start the party, I'll be right back." – Lorelai said and walked out of the living room. She heard Babette ask her where she was going but didn't answer anything. Rory followed her out in the hallway.

"Mom? You are not mad, are you?"

"Of course not, hon." – Lorelai turned to her daughter. – "I just want to go and thank Luke and to see him, okay?"

"Okay, but hurry back and apologize to Luke for me." – Lorelai was almost out of the house but turned around to face Rory.

"Apologize for what?" – Rory looked at her apologetically.

"Well, you see…I thought how great it was of Luke to arrange this night for you and I felt kinda bad that he'd be alone."

"Yeah, keep talking."

"I went to see first Jackson and then Charles. I talked with them, told them all of this and they decided to hang out together with Luke tonight."

"Honey, that was sweet of you and I don't think that you need to apologize."

"There's more." – Rory said and didn't look at Lorelai. She was nervously playing with her hair and Lorelai wondered what else happened. – "Before I came here I was at Doose's and I met Charles there and we talked about him going to Luke's and Kirk heard us talk and then he told Taylor and Pete about it. They're all going to go to Luke's tonight. I couldn't stop them. " – They were silent for a moment before Lorelai burst out laughing.

"It's not funny. Poor Luke. He has to spend the night before his big day with people who he doesn't like. Maybe I should go with you and apologize myself and then I could tell all the other men that it was a misunderstanding and that they should go home. Then I'll come back and call this party off and then you and Luke can spend the night like you intended to. I'm sure everyone…"

"Rory, stop!" – Lorelai cried out stopping Rory's rant. – "First, take a deep breath." – Lorelai told her and waited for Rory to inhale and exhale before talking again. – "Luke is a big boy. He can take care of himself. You know how good he is at throwing out people who annoy him." – Rory smiled a bit at that. She witnessed more than once Luke throwing out people, especially Taylor and Kirk.  
"Besides that…"- Lorelai continued. – "The way I know Luke, I'm sure he appreciates what you did for him even if it took an unexpected turn of events. Okay?"

"Okay." – Rory replied, feeling slightly relieved. – "Then give Luke a hug from me and tell him that I'm really sorry."

"Will do babe." – Lorelai smiled at Rory and then kissed her daughter on the cheek before walking down the stairs and across the town square to the diner.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Jess was sitting at the counter eating the last piece of peach pie while Luke was looking for something in the kitchen. A knock on the glass door startled Jess and he looked over to see who it was. A man whom Jess has never seen before waved at him.

"Luke, there's some guy knocking on the door." – Jess called out to Luke who emerged from the kitchen. His brows knitted in confusion when he saw Robert standing outside. Luke unlocked the door and let Robert in.

"Rob what are you doing here?"

"It's your last day as a bachelor. You gotta celebrate or mourn, whichever you prefer." – Robert said and grinned at his old friend.

"How did you know where to find me?" – Jess snorted at that and stated sarcastically – "What a shock that he found you at your own diner." – Luke gave him a look and Robert chuckled.

"Well, he's right. Besides that obvious fact your sister called me and told me that you'd be here." – Robert said.

"Seems as if Liz has been quite busy lately." – Luke remarked.

"Hope you don't mind my sudden visit. I have beer." – Robert said an held up the six pack.

"Good man." – Jess said and got up. He walked over to Rob and held out his hand. – "I'm Jess." – He introduced himself and Luke was yet again perplexed. _Jess introducing himself voluntarily? And politely?_ _Never thought I'll witness that_. – Luke thought.  
Robert shook Jess' hand. – "Here, take a beer."

"Thanks man." – Jess took a bottle but before he could open it Luke stopped him.

"Jess you know that I don't have a license for alcohol."

"B.Y.O.B." – The three man heard someone say and they all turned around to see Taylor standing in the still open door. Behind him Luke saw Jackson and Charles who were looking very apologetically at Luke.

"What's all this?" – Luke asked as the other men joined them in the diner.

"Your bachelor party." – Charles replied.

"Boy, uncle Luke you're getting senile. Robert just told you the same thing. You should feel lucky that Lorelai wants to marry you." – Luke growled at his nephew and Jess turned around to open his beer bottle.  
Both Jackson and Charles put the six-packs they brought with them on a near-by table.

"We thought we could just drink a few beer and play poker and that's all. We were asked if we could surprise you with a bachelor party and here we are." – Charles explained.

"Liz called you too?" – Luke asked.

"Liz? No. Rory talked to us." – Charles said and pointed at Jackson and himself to emphasize the '_us'_.

"Rory?" – Luke asked surprised.

"Yeah, she told us what you did for Lorelai's bachelortte party and she thought you should have nice evening too." – At that moment Kirk, Andrew and TJ came into the diner too and Luke raised his eyebrows at Charles. Charles mentioned to Luke to follow him and the two men stepped outside.

"Look, originally only Jackson and I were supposed to come but Kirk overheard a conversation and before we could stop him he told Taylor and then soon everyone else knew. Rory didn't mean the evening to turn out like this for you." – Luke sighed and looked inside the diner. Jackson and Andrew were already putting tables together for the poker game.

At that moment a car parked in front of the diner and Luke saw Buddy get out.

"Buddy, hey" – Luke and Buddy shook hands.

"Lucas, how are you son?"

"Good. I assume you're here for the party?"

"Of course. I just dropped Maisy at your house for Lorelai's party. Maggie and Bill are taking care of the restaurant tonight." – Buddy said referring to his daughter and son-in-law. Luke nodded and introduced Buddy and Charles to each other. Buddy was just telling Luke that it was Rory who came by the _Tavern_ to tell them about the parties when they heard Lorelai call out Luke's name. They all turned at the sound of her voice and they saw her walk across the street towards them.

"Lorelai, is everything okay?" – Luke asked her when she was close enough to hear him.

"Everything is wonderful. Hi guys." – Lorelai greeted Buddy and Charles.

"Hey Lorelai."

"Hello Lorelai." – Charles and Buddy greeted her in return.

"Sorry to interrupt you but can I talk with Luke just for a moment?"

"Of course. He's all yours." – Charles said.

"Thank God." – Lorelai said, locking eyes with Luke. Charles and Buddy said their byes and walked away, leaving Luke and Lorelai alone.  
The moment they were alone, Lorelai grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him to her for a chaste kiss. Luke's arms wrapped around her and he deepened the kiss. Lorelai's arms wandered around Luke's neck and and he tightened his arms around her. Some time later she slowly pulled away from him, looking into his eyes.

"Hi."

"Hi. I'm not complaining or anything but what brought this on?" – Luke asked her while still holding her close.

"Tomorrow you're getting so lucky mister."

"I already know that."

"No, I mean after the wedding."

"Well, I kinda hoped that I would."

"No, that's not what I meant. I mean beside the usual _'wedding-night-getting-lucky'_ you'll get _extra_ lucky."

"Glad to hear it." – Luke said and pecked her on the lips but not really understanding what she was talking about.

"Thanks for the party."

"You're welcome. I hope you'll have fun."

"I will. How's your party?"

"Kirk and Taylor are there, what do you think?"

"Aww, come on give it a chance. Charles, Buddy and Robert are there too. Is that Jess I see?" – Lorelai asked him as she watched the men set things for the poker game in the diner.

"Yep, that's him. Liz called him and told him to come tonight. After Rory told her about your party she didn't want me to be alone tonight, so she called him."

"Well, that's so nice of her and of Jess too. I don't know how she persuaded him but it's nice that he came." – Luke looked at her surprised. That was probably the nicest thing she has ever said about Jess.

"Are you already drunk?" – He asked her.

"What? No. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought there's something wrong if you're talking about Jess and not calling him names." – Lorelai rolled her eyes at him.

"He seems to be doing really good now. He has a job and a better apartment and a girlfriend."

"How do you know about the girlfriend? He just told me tonight." – Luke asked curiously.

"Liz told me. Anyway, I'm not here to talk about Jess. I'm here to thank you and to deliver two messages."

"What messages?"

"First one is from Rory. She's really sorry that Kirk overheard her talk about tonight. It was an accident."

"That's fine. Tell her I'm not mad."

"Well, I already told her that." – Lorelai said and smiled at him. – "Second message is not really a message but I think you should know it anyway. Patty thinks of you as a God. A Greek God to be exact. She already imagined you with…actually without a toga on."

"Aww, jeez." – Luke said embarrassed and Lorelai giggled.

"Are you going to be okay?" – She asked him.

"Yeah." – Luke said and pecked her on the lips.

"Good." – Lorelai said and kissed him too.

"Aww, come on Danes! You'll survive one night without her!" – Luke and Lorelai heard someone yell and they turned around to see Charles with a grin on his face. The men in the diner were laughing and Luke rolled his eyes and yelled back at Charles that he'll be right there.  
Charles went back to the diner and Lorelai kissed him one more time before she let go of him.

"I should go back. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

"Love you."

"Love you too." – He told her and watched her walk away.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

It was almost one in the morning and Lorelai's party has ended. Everyone has left except for Patty, Babette, Paris and Emily.  
Babette was sprawled on one couch in the living room, Patty on the other. Paris was staying in Rory's room and Emily was upstairs in the guest room. Lorelai looked once again around the living room before she walked upstairs too. She walked past the guest room and glanced inside to see if her mother was comfortable. Emily was already asleep and Lorelai smiled, when she remembered the amount of drinks her mother had.  
Lorelai's smile slowly faded away when she remembered the things that happened after the vow renewal. The break up, the pain, the sleepless nights, then her and Luke's reconcilation, her mothers attempts to make up with her, the Friday night dinner that Lorelai attended which started to mend the Gilmores broken relationship.  
What Lorelai remembers most is the dinner with her parents in her and Luke's home. After Luke and her got engaged, Luke suggested that she invites her parents for dinner and then tell them about it. Lorelai was against it but Luke convinced her in the end. He said that if she didn't tell her parents that it could cause another rift between them. After thinking about it a whole day, Lorelai had picked up the phone and called her parents.

As Lorelai stood in the door of the guest room, looking at the sleeping form she remembered how nervous she felt when she picked up the phone. She remembered how surprised Emily sounded when she heard her daughter's voice on the other end of line. She remembered the silence that followed Lorelai's invitation and the surprise in Emily's voice when she asked her if she was serious.  
After Emily had agreed to the dinner, Lorelai walked into the kitchen and told Luke the news. Luke immediately started to plan the dinner and Lorelai thought it was funny how he reacted. She called him a _Sookie clone_ which was rewarded with a frustrated sigh and an eye roll.

_Four days and many recipes later the Gilmores had rang the bell of the Gilmore-Danes household.  
__Rory opened the front door to reveal her grandparents on the porch._

_"Grandma, grandpa! Welcome to the casa Gilmore-Danes." – Rory said cheerfully._

"_Gracias." – Richard replied with a smile and entered the house. Emily followed her husband in and Rory closed the door behind them._

"_Hello Rory." – Emily said. –"Where's your mother?"_

"_I'm here." – Lorelai said as she walked out of the kitchen with Luke right behind her. – "Mom, dad." – Lorelai greeted them._

"_Lorelai, Luke nice to see you again." – Richard said and shook hands with Luke._

"_Emily, Richard, nice to see you too." – Luke said politely._

"_This is for you." – Emily said and handed Lorelai a wrapped box. – "It's a housewarming gift." _

"_Thank you mom but it wasn't necessary." – As an awkward silence threated to fall upon the group Rory had an idea._

"_Do you want to see house?" – She asked her grandparents._

"_That would be nice, dear." – Emily replied._

"_You go ahead, I have to check up on the dinner." – Luke said. – "When you have finished your tour come to the dining room." – With that Luke went back to the kitchen. _

"_I'll be right back. I just want to put this away." – Lorelai said, looking down at the box in her hands. She followed Luke into the kitchen while Rory led her grandparents into her favorite room in the house, the library._

"_That went well." – Lorelai said, once they were back in the kitchen._

"_Yep." – Luke said while arranging the lamb chops on a plate._

"_Do you wanna bet how long it will take before a fight ensues?"_

"_Lorelai."_

"_Twenty minutes? Half an hour? Maybe…"_

"_Why are you thinking of the worst?You know that since you went back to the Friday night dinner that things between you guys have been good. Why should it be any different tonight?"_

"_Maybe that whole 'we're good' thing is just the calm before the storm."_

"_That's crazy. Just go out there and keep them company. The food will be ready in two minutes."_

"_Fine but if the night ends in disaster I'm putting the blame on you."_

"_Okay." – Luke shrugged his shoulders and Lorelai stuck her tongue out at him before walking out of the kitchen, leaving a smiling Luke behind._

_A few minutes later the Gilmores entered the dining room and while Rory seated her grandparents, Lorelai went into the kitchen to tell Luke that they were ready._

_Soon Lorelai and Luke entered the dining room bearing food._

"_Honey, why don't you give your grandparents something to drink while Luke and I bring out our dinner." – Lorelai said to Rory before she disappeared in the kitchen again. Rory stood up and offered Richard and Emily drinks. When all their glasses were filled, Luke and Lorelai came back with more food and then they too sat down._

"_This smells delicious." – Richard said as he looked at the various dishes._

"_It tastes even better." – Lorelai said and smiled at Luke. – "Ahm…well, before we start to eat…" – Lorelai said nervously. – "There's something that we want to tell you."_

"_Now?" – Both Luke and Rory said at the same time._

"_Yes, now. Mom, dad…" – Lorelai said and looked at her parents across the table. – "Luke and I are getting married." – She said and felt Luke's hand cover hers on top of the table.  
The room fell silent after Lorelai's announcement and Lorelai squeezed Luke's hand._

"_Well, that's wonderful news." – Richard said and Lorelai let out a breath that she wasn't even aware of holding. _

"_Congratulations." – Emily said and Lorelai and Luke thanked her._

"_Oh, grandma you have to see mom's ring." – Rory said and grabbed for Lorelai's left hand._

"_Whoa there kid. Mommy needs her hand so she can show off the ring." _

"_Sorry. I'm just so happy for you and ring is so beautiful."_

"_Yes, the ring is really beautiful." – Emily told them after she took a look at the ring. – "When did you get engaged?"_

"_Last week."_

"_At our prom." – Rory said before she took a sip of her water._

"_Your prom?" – Emily asked curiously._

"_Yes. You know that mom didn't go to her prom and I didn't go to my either. Last week Luke surprised us with our own prom at the inn. It was such a wonderful night."_

"_A really wonderful night." – Lorelai agreed with her daughter and looked at Luke whose face was red because of the talk._

"_He bought us dresses and shoes and escorted us in a limousine."_

"_That's very nice of you Luke." – Richard told him._

"_It was nothing, Lane and Logan helped me." – Luke said, getting uncomfortable with the conversation._

"_After dinner I will show you some pictures." – Rory said and took another bite of her salad._

_During the dinner they chatted mostly about Rory, Yale and unimportant things. _

"_The lamb chops taste wonderful. I'm glad that Lorelai is getting married to a man who can cook. If Lorelai is one bit like her mother than she'd probably starve to death if there wasn't someone to cook for her."_

"_Richard!"_

"_What? All I said was that your abilities as a cook weren't the reason why I married you." – Lorelai looked over to Rory and said – "I don't know if that deserves a dirty or not." – which made both Rory and Luke frown._

"_Lorelai, really." – Emily said and Richard shook his head at his daughter._

"_I just said that your mother has many other talents…" – Richard trailed off when his words sounded dirty even to him. Lorelai just grinned wider but was interrupted by Rory before she could say anything._

"_So, what do you think about those Yankees?"_

_After dinner they had coffee and dessert in the living room where Rory showed them pictures from their prom night on the TV. The elder Gilmores left afterwards and Lorelai collapsed on one of the couches in the living room. She was glad that the night was over. Even though there were no incidents, the evening was exhausting for her because the whole time she was waiting for something to happen.  
Luke went into the kitchen and came back with two beer for them, a coke for Rory and the gift that Emily brought. Lorelai opened the box, wondering what her mother had bought them. When she saw the item in the box her movements stopped. Leave it to Emily Gilmore to make her daughter speechless._

"_Mom, what is it?" – Rory asked, surprised at Lorelai's reaction.  
Slowly Lorelai pulled out a beautiful silver frame that held a picture which Lorelai hadn't seen in years. It was a picture of her and Rory. Rory was three years old and they were at Mia's for Christmas dinner. Lorelai was lying on her back in front of the Christmas tree and she was holding Rory up above her head, both of them laughing._

"_Wow, I haven't seen this picture in a while."_

"_Me neither." – Lorelai said and then showed Luke the pictures._

"_It's beautiful."_

"_Yeah. Rory did you give grandma this picture?"_

"_No."_

"_Hmm, I don't remember giving it to her but maybe I just forgot that I did." – Lorelai said and furrowed her brows in confusion. What she didn't know was that it was Mia who gave Emily the picture among many others._

"Mom." – Rory whispered and brought Lorelai back out of her memory.

"Hey kid."

"What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to check upon everyone and see if everything is okay." – Lorelai whispered back and then closed the door to the guest room. She then wrapped an arm around Rory's shoulders and they walked to Rory's room.

"So tomorrow. Well, it's actually today." – Rory said.

"Yeah, today." – Lorelai and Rory smiled at each other, thinking of the events that would take place later in the day.

**TBC**

* * *

_**AN2:** If you have wondered who Robert is, he was mentioned in 'the summer festival' as Luke's friend from culinary school_

_Thanks for reading_


	3. At Last

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of the pretty characters (Well besides Robert, Charles, Lisa & Chloe)  
I also don't own any of the songs in the story below.  
1. It was written in the stars - Ella Fitzgerald  
2. Love me or leave me - Nina Simone  
3. At last - Etta James (I know it originally a Glenn Miller song but I just love the Etta James version)_

_**AN:** This is it. Finally! It never took me this long to finish a story but I'm happy that I finally did. This chapter is about Luke's and Lorelai's wedding but I included many other relationships too, so it's not entirely a JavaJunkie. I'm not only talking about romances but parents/kid relationships. Hope you like it. _

I just want to remember you guys that this little series had started mid season 5 which means that in this universe nothing happened after episode **514.**

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. You guys are great._

* * *

Lorelai opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the brightness of the room. She turned her head to look at Luke but his side of the bed was empty. A smile crept over her face when she realized why he wasn't sleeping next to her. It was their wedding day.  
She sighed happily and sat up in bed. That it was just slightly after six in the morning didn't bother her. She got up and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later she emerged and found Rory sitting on her bed. 

"Morning babe."

"Morning soon-to-be-Mrs. Danes." – Rory said with a smile. Lorelai returned the smile and joined her daughter on the bed.

"Why are you awake this early?"

"Grandma unintentionally woke me up. I walked her out and then came up here to see if you're up and to my amazement you are."

"Oh, shut up."

"Someone's eager to get married." – Lorelai rolled her eyes but was not able to suppress the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips. – "Grandma said to tell you that she'll be back at noon to help you get ready."

"Bah, I didn't ask her to come. Besides why should she want to come that early, the wedding is at four. I don't need the whole day to get ready."

"Of course you don't. You tried your dress so many times on that you only need ten seconds to put it on now." – Lorelai glared at her.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to mock people?"

"No, she didn't." – They smiled at each other and both let out a content sigh. – "This is going to be a wonderful day."

"Yes it is."

"I'm so happy for you mom." – Rory said and Lorelai pulled her into a hug.

"I love you kid." – They hug for a bit until they heard the doorbell ring. Both women wondered who it could be this early. Rory got up and walked downstairs. She opened the door but no one was there. When she looked down she found two bags from Luke's on the doorstep waiting for her.  
As soon as she picked up the bags she smelled coffee and the well known breakfast food. With each bag in a hand she closed the door with her foot and walked into the kitchen. That's were Lorelai found her a few minutes later.

"What's that?" – Rory turned around at the sound of her mother's voice. Without a word Rory handed her a folded note which Lorelai immediately opened and read.

'_In case you girls partied all night long. Here's your favorite hangover food and drink. I'll see you today at four. I'll be the one trying not to kill Kirk, Taylor or TJ.  
Love, Luke_

Lorelai chuckled when she finished reading the note.

"My man's the best."

"Yes, he is." – Rory agreed and placed two plates with pancakes, eggs and bacon on the table. Lorelai grabbed the coffee and they sat down to eat their breakfast. A few bites later Rory cleared her throat slightly and spoke without to raise her head.

"Jess is back." – It was a statement, not a question. Lorelai looked at her and noted that Rory wasn't looking at her.

"Yes, he is. Are you okay with it?"

"Of course." – Rory answered too quickly. Lorelai knew that there were still some issues that Rory hasn't dealt with. They never really broke up, Jess just ran away and came back only to run away again. Lorelai sighed rather loudly and put her fork down.

"Ro…"

"It's just a bit weird. That's all." – Rory said before Lorelai could say anything. – "Especially after the incident at Yale."

"What incident?" – Lorelai asked, feeling a tad confused.

"Oh…" – Rory said, realizing that she has never told her mom about Jess' visit last year. – "I never told you about it."

"Told me what? Come on, spill it sister."

"It was last year before I came home for the summer break. I guess I forgot to tell you with all the stuff happening last summer." – Rory said apologetically. Not because she forgot to tell Lorelai about it but because she reminded them both of that summer that caused them a lot of pain.

"So what happened?" – Lorelai asked, not wanting to let thoughts of the last summer ruin her good mood.

"It was on the night of his mother's wedding. I came home from an awful date that was set up by grandma. Just when I was about to go into my room he came and asked me to talk with him. He wanted me to go away with him to New York. He said that he loved me and that he knew we were meant for each other. He said that I could count on and that he wanted to be with me but not in Stars Hollow and not at Yale. I said _no_ over and over again and then…" – Rory stopped when she remembered the hurt in his brown eyes. – "…he said I should only say _no_ if I don't want to be with him and I practically yelled _no_. He looked so hurt, so sad. Then he walked away and that's the last time I saw him." – Lorelai looked at Rory, wondering why her daughter seemed so sad all of a sudden.

"Are you regretting your decision?" – Lorelai asked quietly, somehow fearing the answer. Rory stared at her plate for a while, contemplating her answer.

"I don't regret it. Sometime though, I cannot but think that maybe I should have made him stay with me." – Rory said and looked up at Lorelai.

"Do you still love him?"

"I think that a part of me will always love him, that he'll always be special to me albeit the fact that it was him who had hurt me the most. However I'm not in love with him. I'm in love with Logan and Jess is just a memory, a bittersweet one."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you need closure." – Lorelai said. – "You and Jess never really ended. You never got to say goodbye, adios, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, i hasta la vista baby." – Rory rolled her eyes at Lorelai.

"I did say goodbye when…" – Lorelai interrupted her mid-sentence.

"I know, when he called and didn't say a word and you just talked and talked. Maybe it wasn't enough."

"Maybe." – Rory agreed after a short pause and the two of them continued with their breakfast.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

By noon Rory had successfully accomplished two difficult tasks. Number one was to convince her grandmother not to come to Stars Hollow before three in the afternoon, the second was to get Lorelai to calm down and get a few hours of sleep. Lorelai had felt like a wild animal trapped in a cage. More than once had she cursed hers and Luke's decision to get married so late in the afternoon. Whatever Rory suggested they do Lorelai found a reason why they couldn't. They couldn't go to the mall 'cause what if they got stuck somewhere. They couldn't go out of the house because the town would probably annoy her. They couldn't get drunk 'cause that would end up messy.

Across town in the tiny apartment above Luke's diner a very similar scene was being played out. Luke had been up at five, like most of his mornings. He had promised Lorelai that he wouldn't open the diner that day and that he would just relax until it was time for the wedding but that was easier said than done. He had first made breakfast for himself and then for Lorelai and Rory. He had gone to Doose's to pick up a few things but was cornered by more than one townie who either wanted to talk about the wedding or about his bachelor party from the previous night.  
His mood had suffered more than he thought possible and he had gone back to his old apartment where Jess had still been asleep. Once he was awake Luke had driven him up the wall more than once. Murder was a word that Jess often directed at Luke. At some point Luke had gotten quite and before Jess knew it he found his uncle asleep on the couch that used to occupy Lorelai's old living room.

At three o'clock Lorelai, Rory and Lane arrived together at the Dragonfly Inn and they immediately went up to room number one where they would get ready for the wedding. Rory was Lorelai's maid of honor and Sookie and Lane were her bridesmaids. With some effort she had convinced Luke that beside Jess he needed two groomsmen too. Buddy and Robert happily accepted that job.

In room number one Rory, Lane and Emily were sitting around waiting for Lorelai to emerge from the bathroom.

"Mom, come on." – Rory called out. Everyone was ready except for Lorelai who had just a few hours ago claimed that she wouldn't need much time.

"Keep your pants on." – Lorelai called back but just a few seconds later they heard the door of the bathroom get open. – "I'm coming out." – Lorelai announced herself and stepped outside the bathroom. The three women smiled at her and openly admired her beauty. She looked gorgeous in the dress. It was a strapless white gown, princess seam, covered with European tulle lace and Swarovski crystals, the shop assistant had said. Lorelai hadn't really cared about those details. She just knew that she had to have it. It was the perfect dress.

"Mom, you look amazing but I've already told you that a million times."

"You look beyond amazing." – Lane added in her own giddy way.

"You really look beautiful Lorelai." – Emily said and Lorelai smiled at her mother , knowing from the look on Emily's face that she meant it genuinely.

Without knocking or any other announcement Sookie rushed into the room.

"Okay, I know I should already put my dress on but I need to finish something in the kitchen. I'll be back in five minutes." – As rushed as her entrance was so was her exit. A second after the door closed behind Sookie the three younger women burst out laughing and even Emily didn't try to suppress the smile on her lips.

"That Sookie is something else." – Lorelai said of her friend before sitting down on a chair. She looked at Rory and Lane, thinking how beautiful they looked in their lilac satin dresses. Rory's hair was log and curly, Lane's straight and at one side held up with a sparkly hair clip.

"So, Lorelai. Are you nervous?" – Emily asked her and Lorelai remembered another time when her mother had asked her the same question.

"No, I'm not." – Lorelai said and smiled at her mother. – "Nervous, no. Excited, yes."- She added happily before casting down her glance at the diamond ring on her left ring finger. The four of them chatted for a while to make the time pass before Sookie rushed into the room once again.

"Okay, here I am." – She said and took her dress into the bathroom the get changed.

"Now that everyone is here I'm going to pay a visit to Luke, see how he's holding up." – Rory said and stood up.

"Wait, we haven't give her the gifts." – Sookie said as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Oh, you're right."

"Oh, gifts. Yay." – Lorelai said excitedly. Emily stood up and took her purse. She pulled out a small velvet box and handed it to Lorelai.

"This is something old and borrowed." – She told Lorelai who opened the box and found beautiful diamond earrings in it. – "They belonged to your grandmother. She wore them on her wedding and your aunt Hope and I on ours." – Emily explained and Lorelai smiled gratefully at her mother.

"Thank you mom."

"This is something blue." – Sookie said and showed Lorelai the blue garter she was holding in her hands.

"Oh, sexy." – Lorelai commented and put the garter on her left leg.

"And finally something new." – Rory said and handed Lorelai another box. Lorelai opened the box and found a beautiful white gold bracelet.

"Rory, this is gorgeous. You shouldn't have. I bet it cost a fortune." – Lorelai said, looking up at her daughter.

"Don't worry about it."

"But…" – Lorelai tried to protest.

"No buts. Let's see how it suits you." – Rory said and took the bracelet out of her hand and put it around Lorelai's wrist. – "See, it looks perfect on you."

"Thank you babe." – Lorelai said and stood up to hug her daughter.

"You're welcome." – Rory said and hugged her back. After the hug Rory left to see if Luke was okay. She walked down the hallway to room number nine and knocked lightly.

"Come in." – She heard Luke's muffled voice and then she opened the door. He was sitting on the bed in his suit pants and white shirt sans tie and jacket.

"Hey Luke."

"Rory." – He smiled, surprised to see her. – "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I just wanted to see how you are doing. If you have already killed someone." – She joked and Luke chuckled.

"Nope but it crossed my mind one or two times. You look beautiful." – Luke said and she blushed slightly.

"Thanks. Where are your groomsmen?"

"Robert and Buddy are outside with their wives and Jess had to run an errand." – Luke said not really wanting to tell Rory that he had left to pick up his girlfriend at the bus station. Rory nodded and decided to change the subject.

"Are you nervous?"

"A bit." – Luke replied honestly.

"Soon everything will be over and after the ceremony there's an open bar." – Luke chuckled and picked up the black tie that was on the bed. A few quick moves later the tie was hanging around his neck. Rory walked over to him and straightened the tie out.

"So…" – She said and looked up at him. – "Now it's perfect. Luke, there's something I want to tell you." – She said and took a deep breath. – "I'm glad that it's you, that you're are the one for mom. I know that in the past some certain persons, who I will not name now, said and did some hurtful things but not a single one of them is true. It could never be. You and mom are meant to be together. I know it, mom knows it, you know it, this whole town knows it. There's no doubt about it."

"Thank you."

"There's more. I want you to know that as much as I love my dad, you've always been my father. There's no doubt about that either."

"I'm happy that you allowed me to be a part of your life." – He said after listening to her touching words.

"My pleasure." – Rory replied and they smiled at each other before she pulled him into a brief but tight hug. – "I better go back now. Just ten more minutes."

"I'll see you downstairs."

"Bye."

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

The ceremony was taking place in the backyard of the Dragonfly Inn. The chuppah was decorated with flowers and lights and in front of it were chairs for the fifty guests. There was a small makeshift stage for the band Lane had suggested for the wedding and also a dance floor that Luke himself had built. It was big and taking lots of space but that's how Lorelai wanted it. Once the ceremony would end the chuppah would be moved as well as the chairs and tables added. Lorelai had planned it all and two days prior they had made sure that everything would go as intended.

Zach was sitting on a chair near the chuppah playing soft music on his guitar and reverend Skinner was standing under the chuppah with a Bible in his hands. The groomsmen walked down the aisle followed by Luke. Then it was the bridesmaids turn to walk down the aisle. Once they all stood at their places Zach changed the music to the _wedding march_. Lorelai appeared with her arm linked with Richard's and everyone stood up and looked at them.  
Lorelai smiled up at Richard who squeezed her hand affectionally. They started together down the aisle and everyone was looking at Lorelai and thinking how beautiful she looked in her dress and the long veil.  
However, Lorelai barely took in her surroundings. She was entirely focused on Luke and the way his eyes followed her every move, the way his smile made her heart flutter excitedly.  
Finally she was only an arm's length away from Luke. Richard let go of her hand and Lorelai instantly reached for Luke's but not before thanking her father.

"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God…" – Reverend Skinner began and everyone got quite as they watched the couple in front of them.  
By the time Luke and Lorelai said the _I do's _Sookie and Rory had a hard time fighting their tears. Patty and Babette were both dabbing the corners of their eyes with tissues.  
Richard felt very proud of his daughter. One thing was certain, Lorelai loved Luke and Luke loved Lorelai. He was ready to accept that. Luke was not the man he envisioned Lorelai with. On the other hand he hadn't envisioned Lorelai getting pregnant at sixteen either.  
Now he knew that none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that Lorelai was happy. He and Emily stopped as best as they could to interfere in their daughter's life and surprisingly Richard felt relieved and content. Never in his life did he have a better relationship with Lorelai. He'd do everything that things stay the way they are now because one night he had realized that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life fighting with his only child.

Luke and Lorelai exchanged rings and she beamed at him. Skinner nodded and then proclaimed "…and now it is my happy privilege to congratulate and introduce to you Mr. & Mrs. Luke Danes. Luke, you may kiss the bride." Luke smiled and leaned closer to Lorelai, whispering _gladly_ before they shared their first kiss as husband and wife. With a hand on Luke's cheek, Lorelai brought him closer to her and deepened the kiss. When their guests started to cheer and applaud they broke apart.

Rory was the first one to hug and congratulate them. After that the rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen did the same before Luke and Lorelai walked hand in hand back the aisle until they disappeared in the inn for a few minutes.  
With Luke's hand still in hers, Lorelai dragged him upstairs into the room she was earlier getting ready. Once the door was closed she captured his lips with her own and he eagerly kissed her back.  
When they pulled apart they were breathless but more happy than imaginable.

"We finally did it."

"Yeah, finally." – She said and kissed him again, this time more slowly.

"We should go back." – Luke murmured against her lips.

"In a few minutes." – Lorelai replied, placing soft kissed down his jawline.

"Lorelai, we can't do this now. We have dozens of people downstairs." – Luke tried to be the logical one but he was quickly losing his reasonable demeanor. Thankfully she pulled away before he lost all of his control.

"Let's go downstairs." – She said and reached for the doorknob. Before she could open the door he halted her with a hand on her arm. She looked up into his eyes and saw only love and affection in them.

"You look amazing."

"And you look absolutely sexy in this suit." – She said and brushed her fingers softly across his cheek.

"You know that I don't like suits. I can't wait to take this one off."

"Well, I can't wait either." – She said smugly and Luke just rolled his eyes.

"Let's just go downstairs." – He said and opened the door.

Twenty minutes, many hugs, kisses and tears later the lead singer of the band announced the first dance of the newlyweds.  
Luke took Lorelai's hand in his and led her on the dance floor. They smiled at each other and Luke wrapped his arm around her waist as the singer started to sing in a smooth and soft voice.

_it was written in the stars  
what was written in the stars shall be  
it was written in the skies  
that the heart and not the eyes shall see_

Lorelai pressed her cheek against Luke's and brought her body closer to his. Luke wrapped his arms tighter around her and sighed contently, forgetting that dozens of eyes were following their every move.

_and so whether it bring joy  
whether it bring woe  
it shall be done  
now suddenly I know  
you are the one_

_here as in a daydream  
by my side you stand  
here with my tomorrows  
in your hands_

"At this time, if you're in love, join the happy couple on the dance floor." – The singer said before continuing with the song.

_it was written high above  
that I have to have your love  
or I'll never be free  
and cloudy though the day be  
crazy though I may be  
what the stars foretold shall be_

Rory and Logan, Sookie and Jackson, Liz and TJ, Charles and Lisa, Buddy and Maisy, Richard and Emily and many of the other couples joined Luke and Lorelai on the dance floor but they barely noticed it. They were lost in their own little world.

_here as in a daydream  
by my side you stand  
here with my tomorrows  
in your hands_

_it was written high above  
that I have to have your love  
or I'll never be free _

_and cloudy though the day be  
crazy though I may be  
what the stars foretold shall be _

and so shall it be...

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Two hours later the reception was in full swing. Everyone enjoyed the talk, the music and the open bar. Rory was sitting at her table waiting for Logan to come back with their drinks. She couldn't help but cast glances over at Jess and the dark-haired beauty that seemed to hang on every word he said. He looked really good, Rory had to admit. His hair was shorter then the last time she had seen him. The black suit and the black tie suited him very well and Rory wondered for a moment how Luke had managed to talk him into wearing it.

Rory watched as the girl whispered something into Jess' ear and made him smile. An unsettling feeling fell upon her and she realized that she was jealous. She felt jealous and that in return made her feel guilty on so many levels. She had a boyfriend, she shouldn't feel jealous of Jess' new girlfriend. Jess had hurt her in the past, that was the truth but she had hurt him back and he deserved to be happy. She really wanted him to be happy.  
Rory couldn't but feel a pang of sadness when the girl made him smile again because once upon time she was the only one who had that privilege.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Luke and Lorelai were dancing to _'Love me or leave me'_ and Lorelai laughed wholeheartedly whenever Luke twirled her around. Her laughter was contagious and Luke couldn't stop the smile that was permanently gracing his lips.  
When the tunes of the music changed to a slower song Lorelai smiled at Luke and whispered something into his ear. He nodded and let go of her. Lorelai walked over to her parents who were dancing just a few feet away. She tapped Emily on the shoulder and smiled when they looked at her.

"May I cut in?" – Lorelai asked.

"Of course." – Richard said and let go of Emily's hand. Lorelai couldn't help but tease her parents a bit as she took her mother's hand and tried to dance with her. Richard laughed and even Emily had a hard time hiding the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Lorelai, don't be silly."

"Sorry mom. I couldn't resist." – Lorelai said and then turned to her father who took his daughter's hand in his.  
Rory who watched that scene from her table stood up and asked Logan to follow her.

"Go dance with my grandma, please." – She said as they approached the dance floor. She then hurried over to Luke who was about to go to their table. She grabbed his arm and he turned around.

"A dance with your favorite step-daughter?" – Rory asked and smiled sweetly at him.

"I'd be honored." – Luke said and took her hand in his as they stepped on the dance floor.

"I want to apologize in advance." – Rory said.

"Apologize for what?"

"For stepping on your feet."

"Well, then I want to apologize too." – They smiled at each other and then focused on the dance. Rory looked over to Logan and her grandma and than at Lorelai and Richard. She was happy that after all these years her grandparents had finally found a way to be happy for her mom.

"Lorelai?" – Richard said and Lorelai looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"I'm really happy for you." – Richard said and Lorelai was deeply touched because she could see in his eyes that he was sincere.

"Thank you daddy." – Lorelai said in the rare moment of affection between father and daughter, Lorelai kissed him on the cheek. Richard couldn't remember the last time she had kissed him. She had probably been a child. Her kiss brought tears to his eyes for two reasons. One was that his daughter loved him even after everything had happened and the second reason for his teary eyes was that he had realized it almost too late.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

Rory was standing at the bar contemplating what to drink when someone's shoulder collided with hers.

"I'm so sorry." – The person said and Rory turned around to see who it was. She immediately recognized her as Jess' date and felt all of a sudden nervous.

"Uhm,…it's okay." – Rory said and smiled politely at the other woman.

"I'm such a spaz sometimes. I'm glad I didn't spill anything on your pretty dress." – Rory looked down at her dress, thinking it would have been really a pity.

"Chloe, what's taking you so long?" – Rory froze when she heard that voice. His voice. She slowly lifted her head and her eyes instantly locked with his.

"I'm sorry. I just had Clouseau moment." – Chloe replied, unaware to the discomfort of Rory and Jess.

"Then it's not safe for you to be at the bar where there are lots of bottles and glasses." – Jess said once he composed himself.

"Very funny Mariano." – She said and poked Jess into his side. – "You're Lorelai's daughter, right?" – Chloe asked and Rory nodded.

"Yes, that's me."

"Oh, where are my manners. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Chloe." – She said and extended her hand which Rory shook.

"I'm Rory. Hi Jess." – Rory acknowledged his presence.

"Hi."

"Oh, right. You two probably met when Jess used to live here." – Chloe realized.

"Well, it's a small town. Everyone knows everyone." – Rory said as an explanation. Jess apparently hadn't told Chloe about her. That was okay, Logan didn't really know about Jess either. – "Excuse me for a moment." – Rory said and turned her attention to the barkeeper. – "Derek give me please a martini and a water."

"Coming right up Rory." – Derek said and a few moments later Rory had in each hand a drink.

"Well, I have to go now. My boyfriend is waiting."

"It was nice meeting you." – Chloe said.

"You too. Bye." – Rory said with a small smile on her lips and left. Logan caught her eyes and he smiled. His smile calmed her and her fast beating heart too.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

It was almost midnight and most of the guests had gone home. Rory had just said goodbye to Luke and Lorelai and waited for Logan to come back from the restroom so they could leave.  
She walked out on the front porch of the inn when a voice startled her.

"Hey." – Rory turned around and saw Jess sitting on the swing.

"Hey."

"It was a nice party."

"Yes, it was." – Rory agreed, feeling awkward to have a small talk with Jess of all people. – "How long are you staying in town?"

"Just tonight."

"Where's Chloe?"

"Lady's room." – The talk was getting more awkward by every passing second. Thankfully Logan appeared just then.

"Ace, I'm back."

"I can see you Logan. No need to announce yourself." – Rory said and smiled at him.

"Well, then I'm glad that you haven't lost your eyesight. Ready to go?"

"Yes. Bye Jess." – Rory said to him and Logan turned around to notice the other man for the first time.

"Sorry, I didn't interrupt something, did I?"

"No, you didn't." – Rory said and took his hand in hers.

"Bye Rory." – Jess said as he watched her and Logan descend the porch stairs. A few steps later Rory suddenly stopped and told Logan to wait a minute there. Logan didn't understand what was happening but agreed anyway. Rory ran back to the porch and surprised Jess with that.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm not mad at you anymore. I was mad for a long time. I was furious and although I never understood why you left or why you did any of the other things, I just want you to know that I forgive you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the last time we met. I'm glad that you have found someone else to make you happy." – Rory spoke quickly, getting everything out before the courage left her. – "That's all I wanted to say." – With that she ended her little speech and turned around to go back to Logan.

"Rory." – Jess stood up and called out to her. – "Thank you. I'm sorry for the way I treated you. You didn't deserve it. I'm really sorry and I understand why you said _no_. It's okay." – Jess said and Rory nodded before walking back to Logan who had watched the whole scene but to his dismay hadn't heard a thing.

"What was that?"- He asked her once she was holding his hand again.

"Closure." – Rory said and threw one last glance at Jess. What happened next surprised and confused her. Jess was standing in the same spot and when she looked back at him their eyes locked instantly, captivating Rory. Her pulse quickened and a warmth settled over her and she took in a sharp breath. _"Closure, my ass."_ Was her only thought.

_**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**_

In the backyard of the Dragonfly Inn Luke and Lorelai were in each other's embrace swaying to the music. All their guests had already left, leaving the couple alone to dance to the last song of their wedding. Both were lost in thoughts and neither of them realized that they were actually thinking about the same thing. The long road they had travelled to be in the place they were now.

Their minds were filled with memories of the last nine years. They remembered horoscopes, chuppahs, ex-boyfriends, ex-wives, flowers, weddings, funerals, and the time when they finally had stood still.  
Lorelai realized that she didn't regret any of the things that happened no matter how bad they were. She didn't regret that it took her years to understand that Luke was the one for her. She didn't regret any of her failed relationships and the pain that followed every break-up. She didn't regret any of it because five years ago she wasn't ready to a lifelong commitment. She was scared and a relationship back then wouldn't have worked. She believed that both of them needed to experience other relationships to fully understand what their definition of the perfect partner was. It took all the fights, pain and tears to understand that they were perfect for each other.  
_'Everything happens for a reason, after all'_ - Lorelai thought and sighed contently. Her arms tightened around his neck and she raised her head which was resting on his shoulder.

"I love you."

"I love you too." – Luke said and pecked her on the lips.

"This is it." – She said, her voice barely over a whisper.

"This is what?"

"The whole package. Our middle." – She told him and knew that he understood.

"At last." – Luke murmured the words of the song they were dancing to. He smiled and bent down a little, capturing her lips in a chaste kiss, a promise of more to come.

_I found a dream _

_That I could speak to  
A dream that I could call my own  
I found a thrill  
To press my cheek to  
A thrill that I have never known _

_You smile  
you smile  
Oh and then the spell was cast  
And here we are in heaven  
For you are mine at last_

**THE END

* * *

**

_**Thanks for reading**_

_**BTW -** I had a hard time describing Lorelai's wedding dress so I thought, why not show you guys? I really spent almost an hour looking at different dresses until I decided on one._

_here is the link (you'll probably have to copy and paste it)_

_Lorelai's dress: img141.imageshack.us/img141/1165/odessalg3vm.jpg_


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